Some of the implications the Reformation had for women are:
a. It relegated women saintly figures like Saints Margaret and Ann to the background;
b. It failed to uplift the status of women both in the Church and in the society;
c. Although it failed to elevate the status of women, it sustains the ideal of equality of all before God- which provided women with more participation in both community and religious lives; and
d. It formed the basis for the emergence of radical Protestant Movements, Anabaptist brand of the reform that promotes more gender equality between women and men in the Church.
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It must be stressed here that the Reformation of the Church did not merely bring about religious changes; it also had certain political implications. One big political implication of the Reformation was the weakening of the Church and the emergence of territorial sovereign states after the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The signing of this Peace Treaty brought the Thirty-Year Wars among European Kings to an end. In order to manage this new found peace, European Monarchs extended their continental rivalry outside Europe by seeking for territories to colonize, thus bringing Europe to the age of exploration and conquest.
Self Assessment Exercise 3.4: list some of the impacts of the reformation on women in Europe
4.0 Conclusion
Impact of the reformation manifested in many ways. Some of these included cultural and social changes directly affecting daily live of the citizens.
5.0 Summary
This section looks at the early modern history of Europe. Four distinct but related developments or stages were identified from the study carried out:
1. The renaissance, an era of reawakening or rebirth of Greco-Roman civilization that had implications for not just the intellectual thinking of Europe in the Arts and Literature but also altered the political thinking of Europe. It is a discovery of ancient Greek civilization.
2. The Reformation, an era of schism and division in the Church that witnessed a challenge to Papal authority in the form of a call for the reform of the Church by the Protestant Movement under the leadership of notable Clergies like Martin Luther and John Calvin. Besides the Protestant Reformation, there was also the Catholic Reformation that aimed at repositioning the Church through institutional and pastoral Reformation so as to strengthen Catholic dogma Europe-wide. This religious division was to later push European Monarchs into the Thirty-Year War that lasted from 1618 to 1648.
3. Besides being an era of Renaissance and Reformation, early modern Europe was also an era of exploration and conquest. It was symbolized by a global quest for territorial expansion outside the continent of Europe by major European powers. Consequently, early modern Europe can be termed an age of exploration and conquest. It was a period when European powers sought for and conquered territories outside Europe.
4. The global quest for territorial expansion outside the continent of Europe was aided by the industrial revolution that emerged as a result of the enlightenment.
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While the renaissance and reformation were extensively discussed in this module, the age of exploration and enlightenment were subjects of discussion under the module that follows immediately.
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
1. What is your understanding of the early modern period in the history of Europe?
2. The era of Reformation is an important period in the history of Christian Europe. Trace how the era began and its main characteristics.
3. Evaluate the Steven Ozment’s standpoint to the understanding of Reformation that took place in early modern European history.
4. Examine the internal factors that influenced the Catholic Reformation
5. Identify and discuss the factors that played a role in the success of the Reformation.
6. Assess the connection between the Renaissance and the age of protestant reformation in Europe
7.0 References/Further Readings
Bailey, M.D. (2006). Magic and Superstition in Europe: A Concise History from Antiquity to the Present. London: Rowman & Littlefield
Brotton, J. (2006). "Science and Philosophy", The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction OUP.
Burckhardt, J. (1860). The Renaissance. Available at www.historyaccess.com.
Accessed June 20, 2011.
Burke, P. (1990). The spread of Italian humanism, in The impact of humanism on western Europe, ed. A. Goodman and A. MacKay, London, , p. 2.
Burke, P. (1998). The European Renaissance: Centre and Peripheries (Oxford;
Blackwell)
Burke, Peter. (2000). A Social History of Knowledge: From Gutenberg to Diderot, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Polity Press)
Cameron, E. (1991). The European Reformation. Oxford: Oxford University Press Capra, F. (2007). The Science of Leonardo; Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the
Renaissance, (New York: Doubleday)
Carl, E. B. and Jenson, W. (1996). The Catholicity of Reformation, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids
Clare, J.D. and Millen, A. (1994). Italian Renaissance, London, p. 14.
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Coffey, J. (2000). Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England 1558-1685:
Study in Modern History. Pearson Education
Elton, G. R. (1958). The Reformation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Eméric, C. (1909). The New Cyneas of Eméric Crucé. Philadelphia: IDEM
Encyclopædia Britannica. "history of Europe: The Middle Ages – Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Available at www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2011-03-1
Erwin, P. (1960). Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art, (New York: Harper and Row)
Faulkner, R.K. (1981). Richard Hooker and the Politics of a Christian England.
Berkeley: University of California Press
Hause, S. and Maltby, W. (2001). A History of European Society. Essentials of Western Civilization (Vol. 2, pp. 245–246). Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.
Kaplan J. B. (2005). Divided by Faith: Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
MacKnight, C.C. (1976). The voyage to Marege': Macassan trepangers in northern Australia. Carlton: Melbourne University Press
Marilyn, J. B. and Quataert, J.H. (1999). Connecting Spheres European Women in a Globalizing World, 1500 to the Present, Oxford: Oxford university press.
Olin, J.C. (1992). The Catholic Reformation: Savonarola to St. Ignatius Loyola.
Fordham: Fordham University Press.
Ozment, E. S. (1980). The Age of Reform, 1250-1550: An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Penny, R. and Munns, J. (2003). Gender, Power and Privilege in Early Modern Europe: 1500-1700. London: Longman Press
Reill, P. H. and Wilson, E.J. (2004). Encyclopedia of Enlightenment (2nd Edition) Saalman, H. (1993). Filippo Brunelleschi: The Buildings. Zwemmer.
Shapin, S. (1996). The Scientific Revolution, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p.
1.
Sohm, Philip. (2001). Style in the Art Theory of Early Modern Italy (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press)
Van Doren, C. (1991) A History of Knowledge Ballantine, New York
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MODULE 3
AGE OF DISCOVERY AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT IN EUROPE UNIT 1 European Exploration and Conquest
CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Objectives 3.0 Main Content
3.1 Origin of European Exploration
3.2 Chinese Contribution to Exploration and Conquest 3.3 Exploration and the Atlantic Ocean
4.0 Conclusion 5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment 7.0 References/Further Readings
1.0 Introduction
This section of the study provides a historical and analytical overview of Europe from the age of discovery, which was also termed the age of exploration and conquest, to the enlightenment. These two overlapping periods were characterized by scientific discoveries and inroad into new lands. It was a period of huge intellectual leap and at the same time a period of geographical expansion of Europe to other continents of the globe.
In the 15th Century, Portugal led the way in geographical exploration along the coast of Africa in search for a maritime route to India, followed by Spain near the close of the 15th Century; dividing their exploration of world according to the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494. They (Portugal and Spain) were the first states to set up colonies in America and trading posts (factories) along the shores of Africa and Asia, establishing the first direct European diplomatic contacts with South East Asian states in 1511, China in 1513 and Japan in 1542. In 1552, Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible conquered two major Tatar khanates, Kazan and Astrakhan, and the
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Yermak’s voyage of 1580 led to the annexation of Siberia into Russia. Oceanic explorations were soon followed by France, England and the Netherlands, who explored the Portuguese and Spanish trade routes into the Pacific Ocean, reaching Australia in 1606 and New Zealand in 1642 (MacKnight, 1976).
This colonial expansion was to continue in the following Centuries. Spain had control of a large part of North America, all of Central America and a great part of South America, the Caribbean and the Philippines; Britain took the whole of Australia and New Zealand, most of India, and large parts of Africa and North America; France held parts of Canada and India (nearly all of which was lost to Britain in 1763), Indochina, large parts of Africa and Caribbean islands; the Netherlands gained the East Indies (now Indonesia) and islands in the Caribbean;
Portugal obtained Brazil and several territories in Africa and Asia; and later, powers such as Germany, Belgium, Italy and Russia acquired further colonies.
This expansion helped the economies of these European explorers. Trade flourished, because of the minor stability of The Empire s. The European countries fought wars that were largely paid for by the money coming in from the colonies.
It must be emphasized that exploration and conquest of overseas territories and the attendant prosperity that European economies enjoyed was largely motivated by the Industrial Revolution of Europe, which was itself a brainchild of the enlightenment. Enlightenment thinking gave birth to the rise to prominence of Science, and Scientific discoveries served as the engine of the Industrial Revolution of European societies. With this Revolution, powerful steam ships were manufactured to facilitate exploration activities of European states. In addition, more sophisticated weapons of warfare were produce to aid conquest and territorial expansion.
2.0 Objectives
Objectives of the section are, to:
• evaluate the origin of European age of exploration
• examine the various factors that contributed to the European Exploration 3.0 Main Content
3.1 Origin of European Exploration